CTC staff members Eileen O’Leary and Tadhg Coakley presented at the Resource Ireland 2010 Seminar in Simmonscourt Dublin on October 13th and 14th. There were three strands in the Seminar: Waste, Water and Sustainable Business. Both Eileen and Tadhg presented in the Waste strand.
Eileen’s presentation was Managing Food Waste in Health Care Facilities in Ireland and it set out the work being carried out by the CTC and others under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Healthcare project, focusing in particular on food waste.
The different sources of food waste within hospitals were detailed, including potential steps that can be taken for its reduction. An example of some savings made to date by one hospital was outlined.
Tadhg’s presentation wasOptimised Domestic Pay by Use Charging Systems for Ireland – A review of EPA /CTC Research Programme and it outlined the results of the Environmental Protection Agency STRIVE research project: Development of optimized pay-by-use systems which are designed to maximise the incentives for waste reduction while at the same time maintaining a properly functioning waste management system (2008-WRM-MS-6-S1). This study (2008 – 2010) aimed to evaluate each pay by use (PBU) domestic waste collection system in Ireland in terms of its impacts upon waste disposal, recycling, and, in particular, waste prevention, in order to determine the most environmentally effective system or system components. The presentation outlined the draft results and findings of the project, the final report of which will be available in early 2011.